Getting past the 'I don't want to' and decluttering

You'd think that by putting myself out there as the 'decluttering lady' I'd have a completely cleared out home and neat garden, but it's not actually true.

I can list, off the top of my head, 6 areas that need another cleanout immediately; bathroom cupboards, my 'in' tray, my desk (yes, I know… I meant to do it last month), the place I keep my shoes, under my bed and in the cupboard where we keep jackets and umbrellas.

Then there are the areas that have never been cleared out. I’m talking about the two boxes of gardening equipment in the garage that we brought with us when we moved here four years ago. (Let's see… that would be four years that all that stuff has been sitting there unused.) I'm talking about the five containers that house my tools and nuts and bolts and 'fixy' bits and bobs. I'm talking about the high shelves in all of the built in cupboards in this house. What's up there? Does anybody know? Or care?

As I'm sitting here thinking about it, I'm feeling tired. It's not so much the getting up and doing it, although it's always easier and more fun for me to go and create something 'new' than deal with something 'old'. I could get up if I really made myself. It's more the thought of making decisions. Do I really want this? Surely I might use it again? Shouldn't I keep it because it has memories for me?

And then, having made the decisions, it's about what I'm actually going to do with the thing to get rid of it. Keep or bin? Aren't I contributing to landfill? What about giving it to someone? But when am I going to see the right person? Will I remember? Sometimes I go to get rid of something, but I can't do it immediately so it makes another pile in the corner of the entrance foyer until I eventually get myself together to get rid of it.

These are the times when I have to go back to basics and take tiny baby steps. "One thing per day." "Remember how you feel when it's organized and you only have what you use and need." "You can do five minutes right now." I also go back and read decluttering blogs and articles which help to get me going.

Surprisingly, once I start on a tiny job, I feel energized enough to do at least a little bit more. So I've doubled my efforts without even trying. It's just getting over that initial hump that's the hardest bit.